capitalP
Veteran
This will by my sophomore attempt. I’m sure a lot of you guys have made first features and some working on one for the first time and others who haven’t yet taken that plunge.
The first journey was painful yet amazing, and the second journey well, I’m still figuring it out. I am more than open to discuss all aspects of this second journey.
One thing I will say, there wasn’t much technical difference as far as what I brought to my 2nd film, but from the experience I got from my first feature, it made me a much better businessman. I know sometimes we as artist hate to deal with the business side of things, in my case, it was force upon me and I feel I am a better filmmaker because of this.
My initial goal going into this production was to do everything the opposite I did with my first feature, but the gods had a different plan. I originally wanted a bigger budget(didn’t happen), I wanted to hire a DP(didn’t happen), I wanted another camera and more lights (didn’t happen), I wanted to use SAG actors(didn’t happen). Basically, equipment wise, everything was the exact same from my first feature, here is the original thread. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?108628-The-City-Is-Mine
Rather then sit and wait for the budget to fall into my lap, I decided to go ahead with this new project, Visions of Yvette. The movie is now in the can, currently submitting to festivals and trying to negotiate some deals. Because of my past experience, I’m better prepared for negotiations. The only dilemma I have now is to decide whether I should self distribute or not. I currently have several good prospects in the pipeline, but unless I can see upfront money, most likely I will self distribute. Because as we all know, there's no such thing as backend money for indies like us.
Would love to answer any questions regarding the journey from Feature 1 to Feature 2. I found this thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...Feature.-Any-advice-words-of-wisdom&highlight , when I was deciding to take on that big first step.
For those in the NY/NJ area, I’m having a Premiere Screening in New Brunswick near the Rutgers Campus, if you can come out to check it out great. This will also be some what of a test audience. I’ve edited the hec out the movie, the original cut was 2hrs and 20 minutes, I got it down to 1hr23. There are many reasons I cut such a chunk, one was for pacing. Here's the info for the Premiere. http://visionsofyvette.eventbrite.com/
I had two goals with my first feature, one was to get distribution and the other was having it set me up for my 2nd feature. The latter did not happen. So, my goal for my 2nd feature is to have it set me up for my 3rd feature. When I say set up, I mean money. That could come in the form of a big executive seeing it then want to invest money in my next one or I make enough money from rights to fund my next one. The mission continues.